ADDINGTON INQUIRY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 454, 12 March 1909, Page 7

ADDINGTON INQUIRY.

AN UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENT. Mf*. RONAYJJE'S VOLTE FACE. NOW SATISFIED THERE IS NO GROUND •. . FOR COMPLAINT. , . MORE ABOUT "GOVERNMENT i ■■■;-. . . STiIOKEi". (B? TEt-EOIUrn—VRKS3 iUSOCIATION.) Chrlstciiurch, March 11. Tho /Addington Workshops inquiry, which was opened yesterday morning' in tho Provincial * Council Chambers, . and adjourned, vas resumed to-day, the members of the Commission of Inquiry present being Professor R. J. Scott (chairman), and Messrs! J. J. Niven and E.-. Roberts. Mr. A;'L. Beattie; Chief Mechanical Engineer, represented the officer's of the locomotive branch of tbo Department. .-..'._ The president, after declaring the board open, said that at the eleventh , hour the workers at Addington had decided to be represented. ...It would he quite within tho functions of.tho board..to have proceeded with tho business that morning, although no official recognition -had been received from the Minister of the workers' representative. Such a proceeding,;-howevor, would have left the workers for that morning without a re-> preventative, and as it was the desiro of tho board to give every opportunity for the full investigation of tho matters which had been placed., before it, .they had decided to adjourn the inquiry .till. 2 o'clock that afternoon;, '.■:,-. ■.■,•;■ - .: The inquiry, was then, adjourned, •, and a telegram sent to' tho Minister advising him of - .the course, followed, ■ and asking him to accord official recognition to the workers' representative, Mr. R.' Hampton. . ',-Statement by Mr. Ronayne, On resuming at 2 p.m. Mr. T. Sonayne, General "{Manager of Railways, said that ! when he* first heard of the allegations, knowing "the officers to be zealous'in'their duties; he had concluded that this had not boon cor-rect.--Prior to receiving the information ho ' had had-tho utmost confidence in the men of the;boiler shop, and the smiths' shop. Thoro Lad teen no falling away in the quality of the .wprk. His informant had told him aftorwardsHhat the smiths' shop was not concerned in the complaint. His letter had been given' to the press by some unscrupulous persons, and he had afterwards urged that a public inquiry be held: In reply to a question, Mr. Ronayne said that- the letter was only for the uso of tho engineer. _ The letter was not the result of ' his own investigations; - Whenever he had gone-through : tho shops ho had found everything 'satisfactory. In reply to Mr. Roberts, witness said he placed full-reliance on Mr. Henderson's and Mr.- Bull's information/ The chairman said he would like copies of these-reports. ; ■ ■ -. ,-■ ■ •■"-■• . r ;-,-. Tho "Government Stroke." . Continuing, witness said the reference to "Government stroke" was a hint to the engineer to look into the J work in the Various shops.. -Witness said ho had reason to believe that, as the result of an adverse, ruling of tho Arbitration Court, Prico Bros, stood to lose a good doal on' their contract. Ho thought that a comparison would show that the-engines were'produced at practically the eame'price at ■ Addington'-as by Price "Bros. In reply to Mr. Hampton', witness said the statements in the letter were practically the same as the information given by the expert. The interview had lasted about half an hour. He was satisfied; that the- gentleman was qualified to rank as an expert engineer in as far as boiler making.was concerned. .Witness could nbtj'ae a matter of honour, divulge the name of the gentleman, as he had not got .his, permission. Ho did. not propose to call him, to'.givo .There, w.as no intention, oil his 'part', ili'at '•tho"' 6hould.be made, public,' .If they had not been made public it' was probable,the. m<fn would never have. known..anything',a'bout,,if(',..,-, -. ■ . Mr, H/fflfrtpn': ..Do.'you, .think.'it'.jvas a, ■ fair thmg.io'gp liehind : .th i o..meri's back's?. Witness:. .'lt .Is .the.. usual thing . for the foreman" to make' reports. . . ■ .....

Ground jpr Complaint. Continuing, he said .he. had no personal Knowledge of the-"Government stroke." It was no'slander-of his, but it...was the -views of the informant which had been-forwarded on to the chief mechanical engineer. He was now .satisfied, that there was no 'ground for complaint, and that from information he had received such a. state 'of things did not now CXISt.,-! .-. . .■.;.;■. .•■■ .. ;■;.:■■ '•- vvHcrvJ. E. Jenklnson's Evidence. > The Hon. J. E. Jenkinson, who was the nest 'witness, , paid'a.'tribute 'to Mr.' Ronajne's fairness in all dealings whidh he (witness) had ; had with him. \ Mr.. Ronayne's evidence, as far: as the interview was concerned, was not' quite' correct. Witness had gone to Mr. Ronayne to consult him on the question of the-payment of certain high-class workmen, and , the matter of Aldington had cropped up. He had told Mr. Ronayne that work u-as. not "being turned out 'economically. The appliances were' not placed in a I'ositibh which enabled the work to be turned' out economically. Witness had specified certain instances in whieL tho machinery was inconveriiently placed. ■ He had pointed qut the out-of-date appliances that worked the ting machine, , and he .thought tha.t his estimate'of ono'rivet per'five'minutes was well within the mark. He was only.desirous that tho appliances should "bo brought .ui>to-date so that the men would be able,to turn the work out cheaply. He did iiiot think the word ■•loafing" .was ' mentioned in the interview. Ho repudiated, the''suggestion that he had. called the men ."loafers/ , . He had certainly not: suggested , that'.'systohiatic loafing was earned on. 'To his mind Mr. Herid3?3pn, the foreman of ; tho boiler shop, was the best foreman in fhe shop: ■ , '

■".''. '■' Discontent. He had found the discontent in regard to the. treatment of the men, was more marked '"■ the , Miler.; shop than elsewhere. Witness-had expressed an opinion that the Department was too large for Mr. Henderson to look after. One foreman and a leading hand two nof sufficient to supervise the v/hole of the.work. It would conduce to a more economical working of tho shop if there were more supervision. Ho knew there was discontent in the smiths' shop about tho wav the Department'had treated them in regard to the Classification Act. ■ They had found that tho Act was read too strictly according to the letter of it," and tho rise of 6d. a day was withheld. Ho wanted to emphasise that' what he had called attention to was tho discontent, thinking that this state of affairs would tend to prevent the work fromfboing turned out as cheaply as it would otherwise be.. ..'....,. ... .... ... . ; ' ■ -, A Question. . Mr, Beattio: Do you think it is just in disclosing tho information without giving tho names of the officers ? Witness-renlied that he thought he was quite justified in pursuing this course. Every timo -he (witness) had conversed with him(Mr. Beattie) Mr; Henderson's. name had come up, and he had always bestowed upon him unqualified praise.: He had recommended that three men be appointed leading hands. Witness thought that as.a sequel to this recommendation ono man had been appointed i leading- hand. Ho knew that the general ■inaiiager put his name to letters he had not carefully road. He know that appointments went •through the Minister's hands and tho general manager's hands. Ho did not givo tho commission to understand that ho had personally expressed the opinion that the ivorl: was not carried out satisfactorily. The ispersions that bad boon cast on Mr. Henderson were quite unjust and uncalled for. In his ipinion the work at Addington' was better ;han that done elsewhere. Tho words "too ;ood" did not apply to boilers. • "Too good" .vork could not be,put into boilers that had to stand a pressure of 2501b5. "To Chat with the Men." Replying to Mr:. Hampton, witness said ho isited Addington. early .'in November on a isit of' general interest and to "chat with he men." He was there in the dinner hour. Vhenhfr talked to' the men ha did not know

if ho were the expert referred to by Mr. Ronayne. "Wttnosa thought his last interview with Mr. Ronayne was a fortnight ago. Witness thought that perhaps Mr. Bonayiio had in lnind certain statements mado by him, but ho did not know whether it was ho (witness) whom Mr. Roiuiyno had called kii "expert engineer." Ho did not blame tlio men. The drawbacks of the appliances caused tho men to tako too long over their work. It was somo twenty years ago since witness had worked as (i.bo'ilc'rniaker, and lie did not claim to be an export engineer. In regard to the statement about being "astonished at the slow method and leisurely work generally, a wrong meaning had been taken out of tho words, as what ho meant to infer was that tho out-of-dato machinery caused tho delay. Ho never found tho men resented being chatted to while- they wero working. Ho had never said the men in tho smiths' shop'wovo doing "Government- stroke." Witness would not say that ho was the export referred to in the letter. Thoro was n certain amount of loafing at Addington as in other places. Witness had not stated that tho men were allowed to do an "indifferent-day s work. It was absurd to say that the men generally at Addington were confirmed idlers and loafers. Witness had seen men taking things remarkably easy, but did not' feel called upon to specify the dates. He did not know whether he mado any complaints to Mr. Ronayno against the men, but ho did not think so. Mr. Ronayne had put a wrong interpretation on his remarks. Ho had appeared before the commission to "put limisolf right." ■ ■ . ; To Mr. Niven: He made certain remarks in tho interests o£ Addington and the Dominion at large. At 4 p.m. the commission adjourned Lill 10 a.m. to-morrow.